There is a good post by family member that is easy to miss since they don't mention relation until the end of a longer post
xcaliber69 4 years ago
In 1994 many of the questions were answered by former police officer, Frederick J Shannon. He took an expedition down to the Fitz. It was the first American Manned Submersible dive ever. He set records for the longest time spent at the wreck site. He mapped the entire wreck site using GPS technology. The bow section is in United States Waters, while the inverted stern section is in Canadian waters. It was determined at that time, the General Alarm was triggered, therefore, the crew knew they were going down. The Chadburn reads "all stop" and is tipped over on the floor of the pilot house. shutting down propulsion is the first step in abandoning ship. One would not want to be hit by a rotating 19.5 foot wide propeller. Not that you would ever try to launch a heavy, metal, lifeboat in 30 foot waves anyway. Inflatable life rafts were useless as well with 100 MPH wind gusts, which leaves only one thing left...life jackets. The port side pilot house door is open and locked in the open position. Giving more evidence the crew tried to abandon ship at some point. The body found outside the Fitzgerald is still wearing his cork panel life vest with the circa 1970s "D" ring clearly visible in the photos and videos Fred provided me. Evidence also proves the Fitzgerald broke apart on the surface, the stern section sinking first coming to rest on the bottom inverted. There are two huge piles of taconite pellets which also is evidence that the Fitzgerald was not underway when she broke apart. If it was underway (nose dive theory) the Taconite would be spread out over a larger area...not in the two huge mountains that are well documented. The Fitz did not hit a shoal. In fact, according to the Anderson's log book, the Anderson was closer to the shoals than the Fitzgerald ever was. We know this because the only course we know the Fitz was actually on was that of 141degrees. In other words, right where she needed to be to make it into Whitefish Bay. The Anderson's log book places the Fitzgerald more than 3 miles off Caribou Island well away from the shoals. This is not conjecture, this is fact. Furthermore, the Fitzgerald did not have the ability to pump water from the cargo hold. When Mcsorley reported back to the Anderson that they had both of their pumps running, and yet were not making any headway on the starboard list.... we are talking about ballast tank water, not water in the cargo hold. The Fitz's pumps could evacuate 7000-7500 gallons per minute through 16 inch pipes exiting out of the stern yet the Fitz was unable to correct the list. He was pumping Lake Superior in through a stress-fracture of the hull that spanned two ballast tanks (vents missing and topside damage reported). 7500 gallons per minute but not making any headway on the list is probably why McSorley replied "We're Holding our own." In other words, not getting better on the list, but not getting any worse. The rogue wave theory has some merit when placed in conjunction with the stress-fracture. The Fitz having already been compromised with a stress-fracture, having taken on a starboard list, riding low in the water with the two waves, in close succession, Capt. Cooper spoke about finished off the Fitz. Let there be no mistake. There were only two investigations into the sinking of the Fitzgerald. The first was conducted in 1976 by the United States Coast Guard, and is a complete whitewash. The Coast Guard determined "the cause could not be determined." The second and final investigation was conducted in 1994 by Frederick J Shannon (retired police officer). Fred found 5 lost crewmen after reviewing his high definition underwater footage and still photos. Having lost a family member on the Fitzgerald, I am eternally grateful to you Fred Shannon, for your hard work and determination in solving this case once and for all. The crew can finally rest in peace. I would also like to thank you for being the first person ever to recognize the Fitzgerald as a grave site by placing the memorial plaque on the Fitzgerald in 1994. It means a lot to all of the surviving family members of the lost crew.